Economy

Withdrawals in dollars will cease on January 1, 2024

Published

2 months ago

October 5, 2023

Withdrawals in dollars will cease on January 1, 2024

Iraq’s central bank intends to end taking payments in dollars by January 1, 2024, according to a Reuters report from a top bank official on Thursday.

Iraq relies heavily on imports to meet its needs, increasing demand for the dollar.

In recent months, Iraq has stepped up procedures to support local currency transactions, including paying foreign workers’ wages and salaries in dinars, with the aim of supporting the dinar. Dinar should be used instead of dollars in transactions.

Anyone who deposits dollars in banks by the end of 2023 may receive the amount in dollars in 2024, but the deposited dollars will be withdrawn, Massen Ahmed, director general of Iraq’s central bank’s investment department, reported Reuters. 2024 will be withdrawn in local currency and official exchange rate. 1320 dinars to the dollar.

The move aims to stop the illegal use of about 50% of the $10 billion that Iraq imports in cash from the US Federal Reserve annually, Ahmed told Reuters.

Ali al-Allaq, governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, said on September 24 that internal business and other transactions would be restricted to the Iraqi dinar instead of the dollar.

After the US Federal Reserve imposed strict restrictions on dollar transactions at Iraqi banks to prevent the smuggling of dollars into Iran, Iraqi authorities tightened controls on traders and exchange-rate dealers to control the market.

(Prepared by: Jehan Lakhmari, Edited by: Reem Shams El-Din, Contact: [email protected])

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Nadia Barnett

“Award-winning beer geek. Extreme coffeeaholic. Introvert. Avid travel specialist. Hipster-friendly communicator.”

Economy

Gold prices broke the barrier of $2070 per ounce at the end of last week’s trade

Published

1 hour ago

December 3, 2023

Nadia Barnett

Gold prices broke the barrier of $2070 per ounce at the end of last week’s trade

After weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data and rising military tensions in the Middle East, gold prices rose to record highs at the end of last week’s trade, hitting a barrier of $2,070 an ounce. Adel Al-Fathli, head of strategic planning at Kuwait Dar Al-Sabah Company, said in a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on Sunday that the yellow metal managed to post a profit for the third week in a row. Along with weak US economic data. Al-Fathly said factory activity in the US has seen a continuous contraction for more than two months, along with a slowdown in personal consumption spending and a sub-level decline in the inflation rate in the US market. Gold futures (for delivery next February) rose 1.6 percent to $2,089 an ounce, while the dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against major currencies, fell 0.35 percent to 103.1 points. Analysts’ pessimistic expectations for growth in US spending and output next year sent investors back to the safe haven (gold), especially as the Federal Reserve (Federal Bank) has aggressive plans to cut interest rates. 25 basis points during the Bank’s regular meeting scheduled for March 2024. He expected gold prices to see a “significant rise” if expectations that the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 135 basis points by the end of next year hold true. This will certainly lead to an increase in precious metals in the long run. Al-Fathly said that important reports will be released this week, the first of which is the US labor jobs report, followed by the purchasing managers’ index for services, monetary policy announcements in Australia and Canada, and data on inflation rates in China and South Korea, “all of which are indicators that will determine gold’s trends this week.” .” He said he believed developments in the Middle East region this week would be “stronger” as analysts monitor field developments due to the heavy impact on precious metals prices by military operations and shutdown threats. Some commercial waterways.” As for the local market, the price of a 24-carat gram rose to 20.375 dinars (about $62.2), 22 carat to 18.68 dinars (about $57), silver finished at 297 dinars (about $905), he said. ) per kilogram. ounce. It is worth noting that is one of the units of mass measurement, it is used in various measurement units, it is also called ounce and is equal to 28.349 grams, while the unit of measurement for precious metals is equal to 31.103 grams.

Nadia Barnett

“Award-winning beer geek. Extreme coffeeaholic. Introvert. Avid travel specialist. Hipster-friendly communicator.”

Economy

The world’s central banks are increasing their reserves… Details in 10 facts

Published

9 hours ago

December 3, 2023

Nadia Barnett

The world’s central banks are increasing their reserves… Details in 10 facts

Books – Islam Saeed

Sunday, December 3, 2023 at 03:00 AM

Central banks around the world continue to demand… Gold In 2023, gold trends for the third quarter of the current year 2023 as per the reports of the World Gold Council show that the demand for gold by banks has increased.

Central banks added 337 tonnes in the third quarter of 2023

The third largest buying level in the quarter reached by central banks

In the third quarter of 2022, banks bought a large amount of 459 tonnes of gold..

Since the beginning of 2023, demand by central banks has increased by more than 14%.

Total bank purchases of gold since the beginning of 2023 have reached a record high of 800 tonnes of gold.

Gold reserves reported by global central banks rose by a net 77 tonnes in September.

Central bank’s gold sale is only 1 ton.

– Fund outflows from gold investment funds continued in October, $2 billion

Since the beginning of the year, the funds’ investments have fallen 6%.

– Total cash outflows from gold-backed global investment funds have hit $13 billion since the start of the year

Nadia Barnett

“Award-winning beer geek. Extreme coffeeaholic. Introvert. Avid travel specialist. Hipster-friendly communicator.”

Economy

Oil loses 2% as investors worry about OPEC plus cuts

Published

17 hours ago

December 2, 2023

Nadia Barnett

Oil loses 2% as investors worry about OPEC plus cuts

Oil prices settled up more than 2% – yesterday, Friday – after a volatile trading week as the market anxiously watched the latest round of OPEC Plus production cuts and a slowdown in global production activity.

Brent crude futures for February delivery were down 2.45% at $78.88 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 1.9% at $74.07.

For the week, Brent posted a decline of about 2.1%, while the West Texas Intermediate posted a decline of more than 1.9%.

On Thursday, oil-producing countries in the OPEC Plus alliance – which includes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other countries including Russia – agreed to cut global oil production by about 2.2 million barrels on the world market. per day in the first quarter of next year, including… extending current voluntary cuts by 1.3 million barrels per day from Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The OPEC Plus alliance – which accounts for more than 40% of the world’s oil – is focused on cutting production, with prices falling from around $98 a barrel in late September, amid fears of weaker economic growth in 2024.

A survey showed that the US manufacturing sector is still weak, with the factory employment rate falling last November.

On Friday, talks to extend a week-long ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement (Hamas) collapsed, leading to renewed fighting in Gaza that could disrupt global oil supplies, Reuters reported.

Nadia Barnett

“Award-winning beer geek. Extreme coffeeaholic. Introvert. Avid travel specialist. Hipster-friendly communicator.”